Auto repair question
December 12, 2012 7:27 AM   Subscribe

Am I getting a fair price on 100K maintenance for my 1999 Avalon?

My Avalon is at 100K miles. It has a leaking valve cover gasket and also needs a new timing belt, drive belts and water pump (w thermostat). My shop is quoting me $950 for everything ($625 labor, $325 parts). They charge $85/hr for labor. They've also recommended replacing the spark plugs for another $200. I just want to make sure they're being fair - I know some labor costs can be saved by combining repairs.
posted by boognish to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)
 
That would not be out of line at all for the Washington DC area.
posted by COD at 7:36 AM on December 12, 2012


Best answer: Yup, perfectly reasonable.

I know some labor costs can be saved by combining repairs.

That's what they're doing. If they had to replace the timing belt and water pump as separate jobs, the labor cost would be much higher.
posted by jon1270 at 7:41 AM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


That is an awful lot of work. $950 doesn't sound out of line at all and $85 an hour is a good labour rate.
posted by Brockles at 7:54 AM on December 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Spark plugs for another $200 is, however, highway robbery. Spark plugs will cost you under $50 (slightly more for "premium" plugs, like iridium) and assuming you have no tools at all, you could use another $50 to buy what you need (including a complete socket set) and still be at half the cost. It is not difficult to change plugs; the main thing you want to watch out for is to make sure the wires go back to the right plugs.

If the $200 includes new wires, however, that's a pretty good deal.
posted by kindall at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


Not familiar with the Avalon, but $200 is not that unreasonable for even just plugs on a newer car. They often shoehorn everything in there (as opposed to my '78 Bronco, where you pop the hood and climb on in). The procedure for replacing the plugs on my minivan (transverse V6) is "Step 1: Drop the engine..." So if it's really cramped or takes a lot of elbow grease to even get to the plugs, yeah, $200 may actually be about right.

If you plan on keeping the car another couple years, would highly recommend doing the plugs. You'll get the cost back in better MPG. Had the 100k service done on my minivan, including plugs & wires, and it felt like a brand new vehicle. Lots of pickup and pep when before it drove like a slug. Turns out on half the plugs were so shot, there was barely a stub of electrode left.
posted by xedrik at 11:54 AM on December 12, 2012


Regarding the spark plugs: Even if they are accessible and you have the tools and know-how, if they have been in there for 100k miles they might be very difficult to remove. If you manage to snap one off, now you have an undriveable car and a potentially expensive repair.
posted by indyz at 1:33 PM on December 12, 2012


Apparently you have to remove the intake manifold to get to half the plugs, that kinda sucks.

this is suppose to be a guide to the engine model for a 1999 avalon (seems to be one shared with a camry)

Source: Fixya.com
posted by couchdive at 4:01 PM on December 12, 2012


Yeah, having to remove the intake manifold probably explains the spark plug cost.
posted by kindall at 9:54 AM on December 13, 2012


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